“A risky mission”: Al-Zaydi prepares to “disarm” through a committee, coinciding with Al-Sadr’s proposal.
“A risky mission”: Al-Zaydi prepares to “disarm” through a committee, coinciding with Al-Sadr’s proposal.
2026-05-09
Shafaq News – Baghdad
An informed source revealed on Saturday that the coordination framework had agreed with Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi to form a committee tasked with disarming armed factions, coinciding with the call made by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr.
On Saturday, al-Sadr proposed “merging” the various armed factions under the name “Soldiers of Religious Rites” and linking them to the Hajj and Umrah Authority, stressing his readiness to dissolve the armed wings of his movement if this condition is met.
The source told Shafaq News Agency that “inter-party meetings took place between al-Zaydi and important leaders within the coordination framework to discuss mechanisms for managing the next phase,” indicating that “an agreement was reached to form a special committee to restrict weapons to the state, headed by the prime minister-designate, with the membership of the caretaker prime minister, Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, and the head of the Badr Organization, Hadi al-Amiri.”
He explained that “the committee will oversee the implementation of mechanisms for disarming the factions by the state, classifying them according to a special database, in addition to reintegrating the faction members into the state’s civil or security institutions, in a way that achieves the public interest of all parties.”
The source added that “disarming the factions contributes to controlling the security of the country, especially since the region is experiencing turbulent and exceptional circumstances due to the conflict between America and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.”
This comes as the US State Department renewed its position on Saturday, rejecting the involvement of armed factions loyal to the regime in Iran in the next Iraqi government, while also criticizing the ambiguity surrounding the relationship between those factions and the state.
According to NBC News, quoting a US State Department official, there is currently a “blurred” line between the Iraqi state and Iranian-backed militias, urging the new Iraqi government, expected to be formed by Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zubaidi, to “cut ties” with those groups.
The official called on the next Iraqi government to issue a “clear” statement stating that “militias” are not part of it, stressing that American facilities in Iraq were subjected to more than 600 attacks during the military conflict that the region witnessed from the end of February until the ceasefire came into effect on April 8.
It appears that the Joint Framework Committee may clash with the factions that refuse to disarm. In the latest development, the leader of the Iraqi al-Nujaba Movement, Akram al-Kaabi, responded last Wednesday to the calls made by the United States regarding the “disarmament” of the Iraqi factions, while stressing that it is a “red line and will not be surrendered even if lives are sacrificed” for it.
shafaq.com
